Anyone here spent much time in the Dominican Republic?

If we live outside the US for 330 days/year we can greatly reduce our taxes

Our kids are young enough and self-sufficient enough (homeschooled) to make the transition as reasonable for them as possible and we'd REALLY like them to get some exposure to other languages/cultures while they are still young.

If we move somewhere with a substantially reduced cost-of-living along with the reduced taxes in 1. above, we should be able to build up some reserves and actually invest effectively.

We just plain want to get out and about a bit, time for something new!

Why are we considering DR? Bunch of reasons, good cost of living, great investment opportunities, and it's got the only IKEA in all of South and Central America, which is important as our site is kinda IKEA focused . Plus they have good Internet connectivity from what I understand, though the electricity is very unreliable (generator/solar/battery bank needed).

There's potential downsides:

Hurricanes.

Potential for a MAJOR earthquake along a fault line that has been building stress for centuries (different fault line than the one that hit Haiti).

We don't speak Spanish much at all (but that's one of the things we'll all be learning!)

Crime on the rise in the main city(s), but that's nothing new, and we plan to live in the mountains on the north side of the island if possible.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone here has any direct experience of the island? Esp experience outside of one of the big resorts?